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NOVA ScienceNow; Can We Live Forever

11/17/2010

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Series

NOVA ScienceNow

Program

Can We Live Forever

Program Number

502

Series Description

Premiered January 2005 NOVA scienceNOW is a new series produced by NOVA. For more than three decades, NOVA has been unrivaled in bringing authoritative, innovative, and entertaining science documentaries to television. Now the same award-winning producers have teamed up with veteran reporter Robert Krulwich to cover the timeliest developments and intriguing personalities in science and technology today. Presenting multiple stories in a magazine format hosted by Krulwich and reported by a diverse team of correspondents in the field, NOVA scienceNOW will air five times a year in the NOVA time slot.

NOVA scienceNOW has named Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, respected scientist, author, and director of the Hayden Planetarium in the Rose Center For Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History, to host the science magazine series with the launch of its second season in the Fall of 2006. Series release date: 1/25/2005

Program Description

See Individual Segment titles for additional assets.

This provocative episode of NOVA scienceNOW examines whether we can slow down the aging process, looks at the latest on human hibernation, and checks in with bioengineers and a computer scientist inventing ways to keep us "going forever." Neil deGrasse Tyson also takes a lighthearted look at whether the tricks that have kept a 1966 Volvo running for 2.7 million miles can also help the human body go the extra mile.

Replacing Body Parts: Scientists are learning how to grow custom-made body parts so they can be ready when you—and your vital organs—start falling apart. At the University of Minnesota, Doris Taylor and her colleagues strip organs of their cells, reseed the organ "skeletons" with living cells, and watch as the organs start working right in front of their eyes.

Working Title: Body Shop for Body Parts

Can We Slow Aging: Could a gene that doubles the lifespan of tiny worms help extend human lives, too? In Hawaii, a group of exceptionally healthy elderly men—who just so happen to share a genetic link to those long-lived worms—could hold the answer.

Working Title: Aging

Profile: Jason Leigh: Your body can't live forever, says computer scientist Jason Leigh, but your mind still can—as an avatar. Leigh's Project Lifelike is pioneering avatar technology that will allow you to impart your wisdom, humor, and unique insight long after you are gone.

Human Hibernation: They've been called medical miracles: People submerged in icy water, or buried in snow, with no breath or heartbeat. They seem dead, yet a fortunate few are revived—thanks to the cold. Now, across the country, ER doctors are intentionally chilling their patients into hypothermia; meanwhile, scientists are hoping that a cocktail of drugs inspired by hibernating animals could one day perform the same "miracles" on demand.

Can My Car Live Forever: Irv Gordon, a retired science teacher from East Patchogue, New York, has managed to keep his 1966 Volvo P1800 going for four decades and over 2.7 million miles. How has he managed it, and can this recipe for longevity help the human body go the extra mile? Neil deGrasse Tyson visits Irv and takes a spin in his one-of-a-kind car.

Duration

00:56:40

Asset Type

Broadcast program

Media Type

Video

Genres

Magazine

Topics

Science

Creators

Linde, Olicker (Series Producer)

Citation

Chicago: “NOVA ScienceNow; Can We Live Forever,” 11/17/2010, GBH Archives, accessed July 26, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_506A056BCE444F358A1D2BD26E864596.

MLA: “NOVA ScienceNow; Can We Live Forever.” 11/17/2010. GBH Archives. Web. July 26, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_506A056BCE444F358A1D2BD26E864596>.

APA: NOVA ScienceNow; Can We Live Forever. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_506A056BCE444F358A1D2BD26E864596